Dana 18 and locked rear wheels

Absolutely. That's what I have in the B and I just fabricated the stick so it's right where I want it. Think one would be hard pressed to find anything that shifts better. Have to agree that the car 4 speed first gears generally suck off road but if you plant something under the hood that actually has usable torque at 500 rpm, it isn't much of a problem.

Supposedly, Borg-Warner made an aftermarket version of the Super T10 with a 4.17:1 first gear. I searched for one of those for a couple of years with absolutely zero results and remain unconvinced they were actually built. It would have been near perfect for me. Still light weight, sufficient beef, and easy shifting.

 

I fabricated my own stick, moved the shifter down and back for more right foot room and made up linkages that didn't hit each other. I zeroed the shifter for the proper linkage adjustments and set the travel stops perfect. When I say its hard to beat a top loader, I'm talking about there being less exposed moving parts; no sticks or grass caught in the linkages, No dust or mud built up in the shifter. The saginaw is a great short little gear box that practically falls into gear, its just not what I'm after. For an around town jeep it would be fine, but when you get into offroad situations its nice to have the low first gear to gently get over things. Lastly, we hunt a 36 sq mile property each fall and one of the jeeps in our party has a t18. It is really nice to leave it in 2hi and use the granny 1st to put down the road.

 

Update,
I talked to Herm and he said he could replace the damaged gears go through the case far cheaper than purchasing one of his rebuilt units. Besides, I already had my Dana 18 Gears put into a 1 1/4" dana 20 case. He is going to add the twin stick setup as well. I priced out the cost of building a T18 myself and it doesn't pan Money or time wise out against Herms ready to go unit. There are several T18's within reasonable driving distance from me, but they all are in the $200 range plus the $100 in gas to go get it. Then add the $500 for the adapter, $200 rebuild kit and $50 for the clutch disc. Lastly, I do a fair amount of freeway driving and an overdrive seems to be in order. The whole package is going to be assembled and ready to go, shipped to me on a pallet. I have definitely blown the jeep budget for the rest of the year but these parts should last me a long time.

 

There was a U series Super T-10 with a 3.50 (ish) 1st gear...even those are hens teeth these days. I never heard of one with a 1st gear in the 4's, but that doesn't mean it was never made.
Norcal, sounds like you've got a great setup planned for your Jeep....wish I had the $$$ to do the same!

 

UPDATE!
My transfer case came back to me today from Herm. The package is considerably heavier than when I shipped it! I only have one problem. The trans is a t18 but it doesn't have a provision for a reverse light switch. I Have searched the forum, but cant seem to dig up how to install a reverse light switch into the top cover. I know that I have seen one somewhere. Any Ideas?

 

On my 420 I found which shift rail was for reverse and drilled the shift cover to accept a switch.

 

Would you by any chance have a pic? What kind of switch did you use?

 

Chris, look at this: http://www.jeeptech.com/convtrans/gm/gmsm420id.html

 

I put my backup lights on a toggle switch.. It can be kinda handy sometimes to be able to just turn them on.

 

That's what I did also.

 

You can see here where the top cover of this T-18 has a provision for a reverse light.

From ca 1967 on, DOT rules required back up lights, so that tells you the age of the top cover that was sent to you. You could ask the builder to supply a top cover with a reverse light, or you could look around for another T-18 top cover that has provision for a reverse light.

Since this is for a '69 Jeep, and specified as such, you could reasonably expect that the transmission would come with a reverse light.

I expect you could take the end cap out of the reverse shift rail and fabricate a bracket to hold the reverse light switch to contact the end of the rail. However, this is going to leak a little.

 

I found the thread by danefraz where he installed a reverse light switch in the top cover of his t98. http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?107210-Vintage-T18-D18-and-Overdrive/page11 Post #106
I'm going to go by the parts house today and look through their variety of reverse light switches.

 

Norcal
-mine worked good but make sure you have the right tap as well or you may wait until amazon or someone delivers it. Local flaps didnt carry one big enough or in right dia/pitch.

To do over, i might look at a long one running in from the end-cap... Those all had smaller dia, but then you have to account for more iirc.

D

 

Dane,
That's what I'm looking at, Threading the hole in the back and then making a reducer bushing to the size of the reverse switch. I am putting that part of the project on hold until I get this beast in place and see what the sheet metal looks like. I bored out my pilot bushing this morning and I'm hoping to get it installed tonight.

 

Just my luck! I purchase a new transmission after searching high and low with no luck. A FREE T18B-1A falls into my lap this afternoon. It even has a top cover with built in reverse light switch! This trans must be the rare version that novak mentions on their site. It has the big 1 3/8" x 10 spline input shaft. Ill be robbing the top cover and putting the rest on the shelf for a later project.

 

Make sure it's not a T-98 with that large input shaft...

 

Mmm. If it's a T-98, I would expect it to not have a place for a backup light switch. IIRC the top cover castings are the same for the two transmissions, so you could take a T-98 top cover casting and hang the T-18 forks from it, and use it ... I'd think.